North Cascades National Park
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North Cascades National Park is a U.S. National Park located in Washington state.
The park consists of 505,000 acres (2045 km²) of the Cascade Range in two separate sections, and features rugged mountain peaks that in total have more than 300 glaciers, about half the glaciers in the contiguous U.S. (the "lower 48").
Nearly all of the national park is protected as wilderness, so there are few facilities within the park itself. The park is most popular with backpackers and mountain climbers. Although one gravel road open to the public enters the park, most automobile traffic in the region travels on the North Cascades Highway (Washington State Route 20), which doesn't pass through the park proper but rather through the Ross Lake National Recreation Area. The Lake Chelan National Recreation Area is also contiguous with the park, as are several national wilderness areas and British Columbia parkland.
This park is noted for its wildlife. Due to its wilderness nature, it is home to wolves, grizzlies, lynx, moose, and many other rare species.
The most popular destination in the park is Cascade Pass, which was used as a travel route by Native Americans. It can be accessed by a four-mile trail at the end of a gravel road. The North and South Picket Ranges, as well as Eldorado Peak and the surrounding mountains, have proved very popular with climbers due to glaciation and technical rock. Mount Shuksan, in the northwest corner of the park, is one of the most photographed mountains in the country.
Another interesting way to get there is by boat up Lake Chelan to Stehekin.
A nonprofit partner of North Cascades National Park, the North Cascades Institute, seeks to inspire a closer relationship with nature through direct experiences in the natural world. Since 1986 the Institute has helped connect people, nature and community through science, art, literature and the hands-on study of natural and cultural history. In 2005, North Cascades Institute will open the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center. A partnership with the National Park Service and the City of Seattle, the Learning Center is surrounded by millions of acres of protected public lands. It will be a hub of discovery into one of the wildest, most biologically diverse landscapes in North America.
External links
- Official site: North Cascades National Park (http://www.nps.gov/noca/)
- Education: [http://www.ncascades.org North Cascades Institute
- Photos of North Cascades National Park - Terra Galleria (http://www.terragalleria.com/parks/np.north-cascades.html)
- Guide to North Cascades National Park on Compassmonkey.com (http://www.compassmonkey.com/places/locations.php/97)